Five Questions With: Russ Lande

John Keim

05/02/2009

A last look at what a former scout, and Sporting News draft analyst, thinks about the Redskins draft. And his thoughts on QB Chase Daniel.

Q: Did you like the pick of Brian Orakpo?
A: He's a good pick. Their dire need was they had to find a way to get to the quarterback. Jason Taylor provided that spark for two or three games. Without that, it's been at least a decade since they had anything. With Haynesworth there, if they can get an end to play then Orakpo should not only help them, but he should put up big numbers because of Haynesworth. The two of them should make each other better.

Q: What did you like about that pairing?
A: You look at Orakpo and he's an explosive kid with speed to the corner. If you want to focus on him or pull back to chip with him a back and if Haynesworth can split the double teams, there's no last line of defense. No one is there to help out. Occasionally a guard will help the left tackle and then all of a sudden Haynesworth is going on one on one and vice versa. All it can do is help both those guys to get better.

Q: Can he play the run well now or does he have to develop into that?
A: He's a big kid. He'll probably play at 260 this year, but he's muscular and a physically built kid. Strength won't be an issue when he plays with good technique. A lot of time s he tends to pop upright and look for the ball and when he does that he gets destroyed. He's a powerful kid. But when he plays with leverage he's a real strong cat.

Q: Did you like their draft overall?
A: It was OK. I thought Henson and Glenn, to me, were a reach. There were better players out there and I would probably say the top two are good and after that there's a lot of darts. Not that Williams or Mitchell don't have a chance. In my opinion there were better players at almost every spot when they picked. What's weird is I don't know if they were reaching for a position or if they just loved certain kids. If you love them, then you have to get them. It's just odd that they got these guys. Cody Glenn was a guy that [one of my evaluators] hated and I couldn't find one scout that thought they would draft him because he's so raw.

Q: What's your take on Chase Daniel?
A: I like Chase. He's a good free agent guy. But Colt Brennan is so far ahead of him talent wise. For him to make the team, Brennan has to win the No. 2. I don't think he has a prayer of beating out Brennan, especially from the good things I've heard of Brennan from people in the building. Chase may develop into a great No. 3 because he has so many great intangibles and he's a smart kid. But he's 6-foot, has an adequate arm, his footwork is terrible, his mechanics are atrocious . One thing after another says he won't make it in the NFL.

John Keim covers the Redskins for the Washington Examiner and is a contributing editor for Warpathinsiders.com. He has covered the team since 1994. Some of his other stories can be found at dcexaminer.com

","mobileBody":"Q: Did you like the pick of Brian Orakpo? A: He's a good pick. Their dire need was they had to find a way to get to the quarterback. Jason Taylor provided that spark for two or three games. Without that, it's been at least a decade since they had anything. With Haynesworth there, if they can get an end to play then Orakpo should not only help them, but he should put up big numbers because of Haynesworth. The two of them should make each other better.

Q: What did you like about that pairing? A: You look at Orakpo and he's an explosive kid with speed to the corner. If you want to focus on him or pull back to chip with him a back and if Haynesworth can split the double teams, there's no last line of defense. No one is there to help out. Occasionally a guard will help the left tackle and then all of a sudden Haynesworth is going on one on one and vice versa. All it can do is help both those guys to get better.

Q: Can he play the run well now or does he have to develop into that? A: He's a big kid. He'll probably play at 260 this year, but he's muscular and a physically built kid. Strength won't be an issue when he plays with good technique. A lot of time s he tends to pop upright and look for the ball and when he does that he gets destroyed. He's a powerful kid. But when he plays with leverage he's a real strong cat.

Q: Did you like their draft overall? A: It was OK. I thought Henson and Glenn, to me, were a reach. There were better players out there and I would probably say the top two are good and after that there's a lot of darts. Not that Williams or Mitchell don't have a chance. In my opinion there were better players at almost every spot when they picked. What's weird is I don't know if they were reaching for a position or if they just loved certain kids. If you love them, then you have to get them. It's just odd that they got these guys. Cody Glenn was a guy that [one of my evaluators] hated and I couldn't find one scout that thought they would draft him because he's so raw.

Q: What's your take on Chase Daniel? A: I like Chase. He's a good free agent guy. But Colt Brennan is so far ahead of him talent wise. For him to make the team, Brennan has to win the No. 2. I don't think he has a prayer of beating out Brennan, especially from the good things I've heard of Brennan from people in the building. Chase may develop into a great No. 3 because he has so many great intangibles and he's a smart kid. But he's 6-foot, has an adequate arm, his footwork is terrible, his mechanics are atrocious . One thing after another says he won't make it in the NFL.

John Keim covers the Redskins for the Washington Examiner and is a contributing editor for Warpathinsiders.com. He has covered the team since 1994. Some of his other stories can be found at dcexaminer.com